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Chapter 7 - Privis

The day was here.

By complete chance, Leon had the day off for round two. He was competing in the next round, that was for sure. If he didn't, he'd learn how the game functions going forward later than everyone else, and that would just screw him over in the long run. His morning routine was the same as ever. Shower, dressed, grab the coffee left for him, get to school. He checked the news. A student protest of the war in Dardamo leaves three dead and eight injured. A recent study says that hard drug use among the youth is up 20 percent in five years. A trans woman took third at a woman's darts contest and the debate on whether she should have been allowed is raging. That one had about three times the engagement as the other two.

School was normal. At least Leon assumed so, he was checked out. He had all his homework done for the teachers that gave consequences for not doing it. And once the day was over, he was on the first bus to Privis.

He'd read up on Privis on the bus. It was the territory of Lorenzo Felloni when the city was first being majorly industrialized, with his crime family quickly becoming a dominant force on par with the three legitimate founders, quickly taking over the entire top left of the city. They tried stopping him at first, but he seemed unstoppable. But Lorenzo made some donations to the founders, as well as keeping out other criminal acts that tried springing up throughout the city, to the point he was left alone. While he isn't mentioned in any of the schools classes about the city, he's often considered a key player in the city becoming the supposed hot spot of the world, to the point he's considered an unofficial fourth founder. To Leon's knowledge, a lot of his work focused on things like soup kitchens for the poorer members of the community, as well as funding gyms, purely because he was a boxing fan and could just do that with his criminal riches. Whether all this was out of the kindness of his own heart, his admiration for the people around him and the hope Privis could become a somewhat legitimate counterpoint, or just to gain trust for influence and recruitment opportunities, was completely unknown.

So he scoped out what the game could be. Compared to the other areas of the city, this was the one most attached to it's century old roots. Small buildings of multiple stories across from apartment blocks. The population back then grew, and the builders moved faster. People claimed the disorganized buildings gave a certain charm to it, but others claimed they were coping with living in the worst part of the city. For what it was worth, it was better than the few run down cesspits remaining in the centre.

The buildings were extremely close together, to the point they were almost touching. In between were some extremely narrow streets. He saw two guys exchange a small bag, and decided it would be best to walk away from whatever it was. But during all this he was still trying to guess what the game could be? Most likely something to do with now narrow the streets were? Come to think about it, how familiar are these five with the city itself? Probably a little, given how confident they were in killing them all without any difficulty. Still, he continued through the city. For the next few hours, speculation was all he could do.

Janet paced through the hallways until the coast was clear. Her parents were in some kind of meeting, and the staff were out. At the back of the house, there it was. Her great grandfather's revolver, right under a preserved portrait of him. He and his wife stood proud in the image, with great granddad having one hand around the girl, dressed in the finest black dress and jewelled necklace around her neck, with good old Lorenzo decked out in a bright blue, the type that matched his eyes. The piercing blue eyes of all Felloni descendants. Even at the time it was called garish, but he claimed dressing in neon was confidence. He basically made himself a target, daring his rivals to take him out. And they never did. He died at sixty five thanks to all the cigars he was chuffing. But on his other hand was what was important. His trusty old revolver. Had a bunch of metal decked onto it to look more impressive, including the word 'CHAINED' engraved on either side, after his gang. And that same revolver was in front of her, behind some glass stationed above a wooden pillar below the portrait. She punched in the code she got from her mom's room, and the glass fell down. The revolver was there, and she took it. Felt even heavier than she expected, but she could aim it correctly, which was all she needed. She took the bullets next to the gun, hoping she wouldn't need to load it. Having that power on her in such a high stress situation could be deadly for some poor sap on the street. But the next question was simple. What about bodyguards? Bullets were good, a guy to take them was better. She figured there'd be at least one classmate scoping Privis out, so she figured now's the best chance to get something good.

Elijah and Travis sat in the local burger lord. The one closest to the border between Privis and Flurad, the southwest part of the city they both lived at. They people watched beside the window for anything suspicious. It was just normal people. Elijah tried his best to remember what the gods actually looked like, but his mind refused to picture anything.

"So Travis. You remember what the gods looked like?" He asked.

"Can't think of anything." He replied, staring into space while sipping his drink.

"Shit, is that their power?" Elijah asked while taking a fry. "Or one of their powers?"

"What do you think the game is, even?" Travis asked. He squinted at some guy who looked kinda familiar, but it was some guy who looked like a slightly more tanned version of that actor, Oliver Runner.

"Something big, maybe?" He sighed at his own wild guess. "Maybe one of the gods will show what they're capable of."

"Just one?"

"They'd want to keep us on our toes, right? So the first five games are gonna be showing off one god. Maybe two at a time, I don't know."

"Honestly, that's probably the best guess." Elijah nodded as he continued to gaze outside the fast food window, looking for any signs of divinity. Nothing.

The two headed out. As opposed to the usual reuniting session, there was nothing to talk about. Travis was silent as the sun began to set.

"Actually, if we're gonna die tonight."

"We aren't." Elijah said without looking at him.

"Look, it's a possibility, okay? And if one of us ends up dead, there's one thing I need you to relay back to the guys if I end up dead."

"Alright." Elijah replied with an eye roll. And to be honest, Travis kind of felt like kicking his ass right there. But that wasn't important.

"Look, I've been thinking of where I want to…be, once I graduate. Big changes in life, you know? And I think going forward, I want people to see me as a-"

The ringing began before the sentence could end. Followed by the same voice.

"Is every player here? Okay, seems they are! Now then, let's get round two going!"

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